Tuesday, January 31, 2017

DEPLOYMENT MORATORIUM, NOW! --- OFW GROUPS

A 33 year-old household service worker in Kuwait died of severe beating by her employer. Amy Capulong Santiago was declared dead on arrival when her employers brought her at the Farwaniya Hospital due to severe beating on the very same day when another Filipina HSW, Jakatia Pawa was executed. Doctors found bruises all over her body. Her employers turn themselves over to the police and are now detained at Abdullah Al Mubarak Police Station. The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait vowed to take the case head-on and give justice to the bereaved family of the OFW. Santiago arrived in Kuwait on August 2015.

Jakatia Pawa, on the other hand was executed due to the alleged killing of her sponsors daughter. However, her family believe that what has happened to Pawa was a set-up and the OFW was innocent. According to her brother during his conversation with Pawa over the phone, Pawa told him that her employer's 22 year-old daughter was caught by her employer having sex with her boyfriend. Out of anger, the employer killed her own daughter then called the police. When the police arrived, they saw Pawa cleaning the blood on the crime scene and arrested her. This explains the forensic findings that not a single fingerprint came from Pawa was found. Only the DNA on the gloves she used for cleaning was found and used as evidence against her.

A growing number of abuse and maltreatment cases on HSWs revived the call for deployment moratorium in sending HSWs in Kuwait. OFW advocate groups cry for the deployment ban of HSWs, not only in Kuwait but for the entire Middle East. However, the Kuwaiti government downplayed the effect of the said deployment ban saying that Kuwait will not be affected by such actions of any country's decision to restrict their citizen from entering or travelling to Kuwait, nor affect the supply of domestic workers in the country.A new regulation for domestic workers is also on its way for implementation. It is said to standardize the cost of bringing in domestic workers to Kuwait, forcing domestic labor bureaus to abide by the regulations, and impose punishment of five-year imprisonment and/or fine of KD 5,000 for any manipulation of the regulations.The said regulation is expected to be published in newspapers prior to its implementation and will be endorsed by Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and Ministry of Interior.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is not the only country to implement such moratorium or deployment ban, if ever. India, for instance, has an existing deployment ban on their women domestic workers from entering Kuwait due to maltreatment reports. The Ambassador of Nepal to Kuwait Yagya Bahadur Hamal said that their government decided to organize the process of sending domestic workers to Kuwait after receiving several complaints, saying that this move was aimed to protect Nepalese domestic laborers in the country.

Ethiopia also has a temporary ban for their domestic workers, not only for entering Kuwait but the whole Middle east as well.

The government of Indonesia, banned its nationals from traveling to the countries of the Middle East, not Kuwait alone, since 2009, to work as domestic workers. There are plans to extend that ban to include other countries in the world.

Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Pedro Villa said that as of now , there are no directives or orders from the DFA regarding his recommendation of temporary suspension of deployment of HSWS in Kuwait but he assures that his office will implement the moratorium once the DFA issue the orders.

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